Flood of Memories
by svvya
Summary: Tohru's memories have been erased, Kyo is in isolation, and Yuki is just trying to forget everything. But one lunch period may reconnect them all. I do not own Fruits Basket!
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, Yeah, yall have permission to slap me for not working on my other fic, but I'm having some writers block and this idea is taking up all the room in my brain and I can't concentrate on anything :-P :-)

Okay, I'm titling the chapters by how Tohru refers to the person who's POV I'm writing in. If it's from hers I'll just put Tohru xD

Spoilers!!! Don't go any further until you've read vol 17 of the manga :-) No spoilers in this one, but later there will be some

Sohma-san

Yuki Sohma walked into the cafeteria, looking around at the talking and laughing people dully. Ever since this summer he had distanced himself from everyone. He only talked to people when he had to (ie Student Council) or if someone spoke directly to him, but his answers were minimal. Ever since Tohru's memories were erased everything seemed to be back to the way they were before he met her. That day... Even Kyo, who he usually despised, was gone. Without Tohru's comforting smile, without the constant fighting, happiness, anger... Any emotion at all...

It was nearly New Years now, but it seemed like it just happened yesterday...

_Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru were sitting in the living room playing Dai Hin Min when Hatori walked into the room, looking grave... Well more grave than usual._

_"Hello Hatori-san!" Tohru put her cards down and stood up to give a respectful bow to Hatori. "What brings you here?"_

_Hartori returned Tohru's smile with a small one laced with sadness. "I'm here to take you to your grandfather's house... Your two friends have to come too. Akito said it's time to erase your memories and-"_

_"No!" Yuki and Kyo both stood up and yelled at the same time. No. No! Yuki could hardly even comprehend the fact that her memories would be erased. He knew it would happen, but never thought about it._

_"And, Kyo, you have to go and see Akito," Hatori was talking to Kyo now, so Yuki looked over at Tohru._

_"What?! I can't be there? What the hell?!" _

_Tohru's face had changed from radiating happiness to looking like she was about to cry. "T-Today? Right now?"_

_Hatori nodded. "Your friends' memories have to be taken care of too. And, no, Kyo, you have to see Akito to discuss your isolation." He avoided all of their eyes while he spoke and-_

"Hey, Prince Charming, get over here." Yuki was brought back into reality by the sharp voice of Arisa Uotani. He looked over at the table where she was sitting with Saki Hanajima and... And Tohru.

Uotani was glaring at him with a very annoyed look on her face. "Yeah, you. _Come here_."

Tohru was looking back and forth between Yuki and Uotani with a nervous look on her face. She was probably just afraid of what Uotani was going to do, she looked so innocent, so ignorant. It hurt to look at her. She had no idea about the Zodiac Curse or even living with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure. He couldn't stand it, so he turned his attention to Hanajima. She was looking down at her sandwich, seemingly uninterested at what was going on.

Yuki didn't know what else to do but to walk over to the table.

"Now sit." Yuki must have had a blank look on his face because Uotani sighed and explained, "It seriously pisses me off when people sit alone at lunch. You're always over in a corner looking rejected and dejected. We have an extra seat, so sit." She pointed to an empty seat next to her, across from Tohru..

"Ah! Yes! Sohma-san, sit with us!" Yuki had no choice but to look over at Tohru now. Her face had lit up at the thought of another person joining their group.

Yuki shook his head and managed to get out, despite the pain it caused talking to Tohru and her friends, "No. I shouldn't. Thank you though." His voice was emotionless, he had to keep all of the emotions out of his voice to disguise the fact that it hurt just to talk.

Uotani sighed again and opened her mouth, but Hanajima stopped her by talking first. "Prince, just sit down. She's already angry about having to do that huge science project, please make it easier on all of us and eat with us."

It was a bad desicion. Yuki should not have sat down. But it was like something had taken over his body and his mind. The rational part of it was warning him against this, but that small crazy part that was rowning larger every second he stood there said, _She can't find out about the curse again after one meal... Akito doesn't have know... You just want her to smile at you one more time..._

The last part was true. So he sat and tried to ward off the pain of the memories that threatened to overwhelm him by listening to Uotani go on about a science project.

"I mean, seriously. We only have a few days for this thing! I don't wanna make a model of the respiratory system. That sucks! Hey, Princey, who are you working with?" She spoke quickly so it was hard to make out everything she said, but he understood the last part.

"I'm working by myself..."

"Oh my," Hanajima said with a sigh, "you should have lied."

"By yourself? We're in a huge class and you couldn't find a partner? You wanna do all that work on your own?" Uotani looked pissed again. "Work with one of us-"

"Oh!" Tohru's voice was so happy it was almost painful. "You can work with me, Sohma-san! I don't have a partner yet since we're only allowed to work in groups of twos."

That was Tohru, always ready to help. Yuki remembered that during class she had refused going to ask the teacher if she Hanajima, and Uotoni could work in a group of three, not wanting to cause trouble. She had said she would find someone and Hanajima and Uotoni should work together.

He opened his mouth to decline, but then heard that voice again. _You'd only talk to each other at school. No one outside of school needs to know. You need to spend time with her again before you go out of your mind... She needs you._

"Okay." And just like that, Tohru was back in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Yeah, I made up art class… And a few of the flashbacks I use later might be made up. It depends on what I need :-)

_Italics_ are either thoughts or a flashback... You can probably tell the difference when they come up xD

Tohru

"Now, how do we start?" Tohru frowned in concentration as she looked down at the paper on the table in front of her and Yuki. It had the directions for the science project written on it.

"I think we need to decide what we want to make our model out of." Yuki's voice was so... Robotic that Tohru could hardly believe it. She was always so happy that it confused her a little when people were sad for no apparent reason, but she just smiled and nodded.

"Oh, I see." She looked down at the paper and continued, "It says we can draw or use clay. Are you any good at drawing?" She frowned, her drawing skills were lacking to say the least, but she thought she could make something decent out of clay.

Yuki was silent for a moment, but then said quickly, "I think we should stick to clay."

Tohru giggled and nodded in agreement. "That sounds good." She walked up to the front to get the clay and stopped near Hana-chan and Uo-chan's table. "What are you two doing?"

"Drawing," they answered together. Uo yawned and continued, "It is so much easier."

Hana nodded, not looking up from the large piece of paper she was drawing a lung on. "And we're both decent drawers. I hope you and the Prince are using clay…" She glanced up at Tohru and when Tohru nodded Hana said, "Good. I remember art class last year."

Tohru smiled. In their second year everyone was forced to take a drawing class… And let's just say that Tohru got and A… For effort only. She nodded then her hand flew to her mouth. "I forgot about Sohma-kun!" Yuki had told her she didn't have to be so formal when she talked to him, but she still felt a little uncomfortable with using his first name.

Tohru said a quick goodbye to Hana and Uo, grabbed some clay, and went back to her table. "I'm sorry for making you wait, Sohma-kun," she said, setting down the clay on the table.

"It's fine," Yuki said, looking at her with a blank expression so she couldn't tell if it was actually okay or not.

Tohru's apologetic smile faded a little. He was just so unhappy all the time. She grabbed a chunk of pink clay and started molding it into the shape of a lung, the first part of the respitory system that came to mind. She stepped back a little from the table so she wouldn't be in the way if Yuki wanted to get something off of the table and tried to think. She didn't know of anything bad that had happened in his family, news like that usually traveled around the school fast, and nothing had happened at school that had been especially horrible, the whole school would know about that too. Yuki's home life seemed fine... That night she stayed there, the worse thing seemed to be that he had a bad relationship with his cousin, Kyo, but she hadn't seen Kyo around school all year. The word was that he had transfered schools...

Tohru looked down at the decent looking lung and then stepped forward to put it on the table, tripped, fell forward, and hit her head on the table.

"Honda-san?!" Tohru blinked a few times to make the stars blinking in front of her eyes go away and then saw Yuki kneeling down next to her, a look of concern clear on his face. She became aware that she was kneeling on the floor, one hand on her head where she had bonked it.

"Tohru!" She heard Hana and Uo say her name at the same time and looked up to see them walking over, also looking concerned.

"Fine... I'm fine," She said, blinking a few more times. It didn't hurt very much, she had definatly been hurt worse.

Yuki stood up and held out his hand to help Tohru up, the faintest trace of a relieved smile on his face, and as soon as her hand closed around his, a sharp pain hit her head. And she was

_Following Yuki outside to the back of the onsen owned by the Sohmas. Yuki had ran outside during a game of ping pong between Kyo and Tohru. Tohru had missed a shot she was sure had and yelled a loud, "I missed!" Right after that Yuki had left without a word._

_"Yuk-kun, are you feeling alright?" Tohru walked closer to Yuki, she was a little worried. He had a hand over his mouth and there was something about his eyes..._

_But he was laughing! "Ha ha! Honda-san, you're so funny! Ha ha ha! You were so serious and- ha ha ha!"_

_"Um- You could have laughed in front of me," Tohru said, smiling now._

_"Ha ha! No way, no laughing in front of Kyo... I haven't even laughed in front of my parents like this."_

_That confused Tohru a little, but she was really happy to see Yuki smile like that. For the whole time she had lived with the Sohmas, Yuki had never really opened up like that in front of her._

_"Oh, and _

Honda-san?" Tohru had let go of Yuki's hand and was back on the ground, her head in her hands. Her head was still in pain and she felt dizzy and nauseous now.

"Tohru!" Tohru's friends said her name again and Uo took her arm and pulled her up.

"Tohru, you're all pale, are you sick?" Tohru leaned on Uo while Hana felt her forehead.

"I'm fine," She tried to protest, but they said something about her needing to go home and started pulling her out of the classroom, Uo yelling to the teacher that Tohru was sick. The truth was, Tohru felt pretty sick all of a sudden. Could she have been alergic to the clay? And what had she been seeing while Yuki was helping her up? She had never been to an onsen with Yuki and Kyo... And she had definatly never seen Yuki laugh like that.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Hana. "How long have you been feeling sick, Tohru? Have you been overworking yourself again?"

Tohru shook her head quickly. "N-no... It was really sudden. I don't know what happened."

"Well, you probably just need some rest," Uo said firmly.

Suddenly, the three nearly ran into a very young looking, second year boy with bright blond hair, but he sidestepped them gracefully. He smiled and looked at them, his smile faltering a little when he saw Tohru. "Sorry," He said.

"It's alright." _That's right, Momiji was there too... He was the one who suggested the onsen trip in the first- What?_ Tohru shook her head, not knowing what she was thinking. She kept trying to figure out why she would remember something that never happened, but nothing came to mind. Maybe she was so sick that she was delerious...?

In no time they were at Tohru's grandfather's house. Tohru opened the door and called softly, "Grandpa?"

"That polite voice isn't going to help now," Uo said, pulling her inside. "Honda-san?" She called out.

"You girls are here early? Was it a half day today?" A kind looking, old man came to meet them.

Hana shook her head and said, "No, Tohru got sick so we thought it would be best to tke her home."

Tohru's grandpa nodded and Toru said, "I'm just going to go lay down." Maybe Uo was right and she just needed some sleep. After assuring her grandpa and her friends she didn't need anything, Tohru went to her room, lay down, and soon fell into a fitful sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Kyo-san

Dark. It was always dark for Kyo now. He lived in a dark room he could never leave. No windows, no lamps, no company except for two people. Akito came every day with food and dark words. Kyo didn't have anywhere to cook his own food, Akito didn't want to give him a stove or knives or anything in case Kyo decided to try to kill himself, which he definatly would have considered if there was a way to do it. The only thing in the small room was a bed and a bathroom.

Shishou was the other person who was alowed to visit and he could only come once a week. He usually came alone, but sometimes he would have to come at the same time as Akito. Shishou always brought news of the outside world, but never about the only person Kyo wanted to hear about, Tohru.

Kyo was sitting in a corner, leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed and his legs pulled up to his chest. He was doing the only thing that kept him sane: Convincing himself that he hated Tohru. He never really could of course, he loved Tohru more than anything, but if he convinced himself that it was her fault that he was there or could convince himself that she did something to hurt him then if something happened to her and the time without her (AKA his whole life).

_She didn't even try to stop Hatori from erasing her memory... She could never see anything bad in anyone or say anything bad about anyone..._ Dammit! That always happened. He could think one or two bad things then his mind moved to everything good about her. Disliking her even a little took a huge amount of energy. Crap. At this rate Kyo would keep slowly losing his mind.

"Happy aniversary." A rush of cold air, a blinding light, and a cruel voice that, even though Kyo heard it everyday, never failed to make him cringe, brought him back from his thoughts.

Kyo looked up, even thought he couldn't see anything, he knew Akito was wearing a small smile that was devoid of any humor. "What are you talking about?" Kyo mumbled, putting his head down on his knees. He would much rather be alone than deal with Akito.

He heard a small whoosh of air as Akito sat down next to him and Akito said, "Don't tell me you already lost track of time? You've been here six months today."

"Oh." It had only been six months? How could he survive for his whole life in here? Kyo sighed and let himself remember the day that happened, apparently, six months ago.

_"Hell no!! I'm not going to go and see Akito! Not now!" Kyo was struggling to get away from Hatori who was pulling him towards the car to take him to the car. Hatori wasn't giving him time to say goodbye. He still needed to tell Tohru how he felt about her. It was no doubt Akito's order that he didn't have any time to say goodbye._

_"LET GO!" They were almost out the door now and Hatori was still pulling him. Why couldn't Kyo get free? He thought he was stronger than Hatori of all people, but apparently not. _

_"K-Kyo!" Tohru finally said. She started running after him and Hatori. When she caught up, she grabbed onto Hatori's arm and said, "Please! Can't we all just have a little while? Even ten minutes?" She looked over at Kyo and he saw she had tears in her eyes._

_"Yeah..." Kyo, Tohru, and Hatori looked over at Yuki in surprise. "It's not really fair. Can't Kyo come when Tohru's memories are... taken?"_

_"Akito's orders." A new voice entered the room. Shigure walked quickly towards Tohru and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Hatori and Kyo. "Hatori and I were ordered directly, we can't disobey."_

_"Bu... But..." Tohru was struggling against Shigure's grip, but she wasn't strong enough to get away._

_Hatori continued dragging Kyo out and Kyo knew that this was his only chance. He was never going to see her agani after this... Never! "Tohru! Tohru, I uh oo!" He meant to say, 'I love you!' But just as he was getting to the love part, Hatori's hand clamped over his mouth. He tried again, he had to tell her! She had to know! "Uh oo! Uru, I uh oo!" _

_It wasn't working. Tohru was watching him with a confused expression, tears rolling down her face._

No, he didn't want to remember the rest. Not his conversation with Akito, not being dragged into the small, dark room, and definatly not the days that followed and his anger fading into depression.

"So you do remember?" Kyo didn't answer, he was struggling to keep the memories out and if he said anything he would lose his concentration. "If I recall, you fought quite a lot." Akito took Kyo's chin in his hand and turned it in what Kyo could only guess was in the direction of Akito's face. "You were upset about something... Not being able to say goodbye to that awful Honda girl, I think."

"Stop..." Kyo said feebly, shutting his eyes tightly.

"She and Yuki are in contact again," Akito's voice had an amused tone now and he was still holding Kyo's head in place, probably so he would know if Kyo tried to cover his ears. "They're working on a science project together and I'm allowing it."

"Wha-What?" But it was too... Kyo didn't know what! Too unfair, too wrong. It wasn't supposed to work like that. Why was Kyo locked up and Yuki was working on a freaking science project with her?!

"Shigure caught them on the phone talking about it the other day, and he came and told me. It couldn't hurt for them to work on one project together, could it?" There was definatly sick amuesement in his voice.

"Stop!" He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to freaking hear it! No! He hated Yuki with every fiber of his being. "Why does he get to see her?" Kyo didn't realize that he said the last part out loud until Akito answered.

"Because Yuki isn't the cat. Yuki isn't a monster."

"Stop. Don't..." Kyo's hands flew to his ears. He had to block out Akito's voice somehow. He hated that he was too weak to stand up for himself now, he hated being locked up without anyone, he hated Yuki, and he couldn't hate Akito!

"Don't," Akito said in a soft and dangerous voice, "tell me what to do." There was a sound like the crack of a whip as Akito slapped Kyo across the face. The force of the slap sent Kyo to the floor and he lay there silently and unmoving, trying to avoid any more of Akito's wrath.

After a few minutes of silence, Akito stood up and his footsteps went towards the door. "Oh, you're coming out for the New Year's celebration. You can be a guest at the feast." There was something in Akito's voice that Kyo didn't like (But wasn't there always?), but before Kyo could say anything, Akito was gone with another flash of light.


	4. Chapter 4

Yuki-kun

"Are you sure you're not too cold?" Yuki looked with some concern at Tohru. She was shivering despite the fact that she had a winter coat on and she had been sick lately.

Tohru just smiled up at him. "I'm fine! I think I'm finally getting over being sick. The flu is the worst." It did seem like she had the flu, but it was only when Yuki was around... Yuki couldn't figure it out. She had flu-like symptoms, she had said she felt dizzy a few times and had compained of a stomach ache once or twice, there could have been more, but it was more like Tohru to ignore feeling sick until she collapsed instead of telling someone. But it had been going on for a while now. Ever since Yuki came back in contact with her. It could have been a coincidence, but there was something else he couldn't help but think about... There couldn't be side effects to her memory being erased, could there? he would have to ask Hatori at the New Years celebration.

But in spite of Tohru being sick, the last few weeks had been perfect. Sitting with Tohru and her friends was now an unspoken rule and after Shigure caught him talking to her on the phone one day he had to go talk to Akito, but even that hadn't been awful. Akito had agreed to let Yuki keep seeing her on one condition... And it wasn't even that awful.

Right now Tohru and Yuki were going to see his 'secret base' he told her about one day after school. Even though he told her that it was just a small garden and nothing would be growing since it was winter, she still wanted to see it.

Yuki smiled half-heartedly at her response about the flu and nodded. "Here we are." He nodded at a patch of brown soil with some weeds here and there that Tohru nearly stepped on.

"Oh!" She stopped quickly and looked down, closing her eyes. It looked like she was trying to imaging the ground in the summer with a buch of plants... After a minute she opened her eyes. "It must look very beautiful when you start planting! Do you plant strawberries?"

"Huh?... Oh, yeah." Yuki's mind was elsewhere, he had to figure out how to ask her... but then he smiled, remembering the first time he showed her the garden... She wouldn't remember of course... "Do you like them, Honda-san?" He already knew the answer, but she wouldn't know that either.

"Oh yes! There are so many things you can make with them." She was smiling so happily that Yuki's smile widened a little more.

"Ah, Honda-san?" It would be best just to ask her this. "Would you like to come to my family's New Year celebration with me? The head of the Sohmas... asked if I wanted to invite you. That is, if you don't have plans." That was the condition. Yuki didn't exactly know why Akito wanted Yuki to invite her, probably because it would just be painful for most everyone, but it wasn't like Kyo would be there, who it would hurt the most... But Kisa and Momiji would be sad and if Hatori saw her he might feel guilty... And she and Rin had been doing something or other together, but this was just a set up for disaster. But maybe _that_ was what Akito wanted.

"No, I don't have anything planned, but are you sure you want me to come?" Tohru looked so flattered that Yuki couldn't say what he was thinkng, _No!_ He knew this was going to end badly.

So he just smiled a fake smile and nodded. "Of course I do."

-----------

New Years came quickly. Yuki had explained to Tohru that each person who came to the celebration had a place in the Chinese Zodiac as a different animal. "Ironically," he had said, "we're all actually a different year." It wasn't ironic of course, but he couldn't really tell her everything. He also told her about the tradition of two people doing a dance every year. This year it was Ayame and Hatori, so that would be interesting.

"What is that?" Yuki was referring to the black hat Tohru had come out of her house wearing. The only thing that had drawn his attention to it was a small orange stiching of a cat down in the front right corner. Did she remember something? Why a cat? Yuki's brain went into panic mode, but he stayed calm on the outside. If she remembered Kyo was the cat while Yuki was hanging out with her, it would be his head.

Tohru blushed slightly and said, "You never mentioned a cat when you were telling me about the celebration the other day so I thought I'd wear this. I usually do around New Years anyway since I used to like the story about the cat when I was little."

Relief flooded Yuki. Of course she didn't remember, but just the cat and it being _orange._ The same color as Kyo's hair even... But there was no need to worry now, at least until Yuki figured out what he was feeling so apprehensive about.

The walk from Tohru's house was short and on the way they chatted about school, the New Year, ect.

"Yun-kun! Tohru-chan!" They were greeted almost immediatly by Kagura Sohma when they walked through the door to the main house. "Rin-chan and I are the only ones here so far, I thought you would never get here-" She stopped, looking at the blank expression on Tohru's face. Kagura must have forgotten that Tohru didn't remember her. "I- I mean. I'm Kagura Sohma. Yuki told me about you. I, ah, love your hat!"

Her attemept to distract Tohru worked. "Please to meet you, Kagura-san. Do you really like it?"

Kagura nodded and took Tohru's hand, starting to pull her inside further. "I love the cat! I'll show you around the house before everyone gets here."

Yuki watched them walk away, feeling relieved again. Kagura handled that well.

"Hello my dear brother!" Yuki turned around to see his extremely annoying brother, Ayame. He groaned softly, having to spend a whole day with Ayame was usually one of the worst things about the New Year's celebration. Ayame was accompanied by Hatori who looked nearly as annoyed as Yuki already felt. "Is young Tohru here?" Ayame asked, looking around with intrest.

"Yeah, she's with Kagura." To his relief, Hatori pulled Ayame away while saying something about getting ready for the dance.

Yuki sat down on a bench next to the door and closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the feeling in his stomch that was getting worse and worse every minute. In hardly anytime at all, Yuki heard the sound of the door being opened again. Hoping it was Haru, Yuki reopened his eyes. But it was Akito, Kureno, and someone Yuki didn't recognize at first.

He was extremely pale, so much skinnier, and had an emotionless look on his face, even his orange hair seemed less bright, and the it was like someone extinguished the fire that was always in his eyes. Yuki stood up quickly, now knowing why Akito wanted him to invite Tohru... And it made him feel even worse.

When Kyo saw Yuki his lack of expression turned to a look of hate so intense that Yuki wanted to look away, but couldn't. So Kyo knew that Yuki still talked to and saw Tohru. And, if it was possible, he felt worse still.

Yuki heard footsteps behind him and when Kyo turned towards the approaching person and his expression changed from intense hate to intense pain, Yuki didn't have to turn around to know who it was. But he did turn, to avoid looking at Kyo anymore.

"Yuki-kun, your brother wants asked if I could tell you-" Tohru, alone this time, stopped talking when she caught site of the drastically changed teenagre behind Yuki. "Kyo-san?"


	5. Chapter 5

-Dies- So many posotive reviews!! Thank you all so much!! -hugs-

And... Sorry all... Not quite yet...

Tohru

When Tohru came onto the scene, she saw Kyo and Yuki just staring at each other. Well, Kyo was actually glaring, but, anyway, they didn't notice Tohru there.

Was it really Kyo? He looked so different since the last time Tohru saw him. Was he sick? The word was that he had transferred to a different school, but it didn't look like it was treating him very well. But the others, two other men (so beautiful, just like all of the other Sohmas), didn't seem to notice how sick Kyo looked, they weren't trying to calm him down- He looked ready to explode any second. That was the look he had before getting into a fight with Yuki at school... But hugely magnified... It was closer to pure hate than just a want to fight actually.

Suddenly Tohru remembered why she was there, to give Yuki a message. She backed up a ways, still no one noticing her, and then walked back foreward, more loudly this time. "Yuki-kun, your brother asked if I could tell you-" She told herself that she wouldn't pay special attention the the fact that Kyo looked so sick- No one else was- but when Kyo looked at her and his expression changed to something Tohru couldn't place. Confusion? Hurt? Sadness? All three? Whatever it was, it was strong.

"Yes, Honda-san?" She tore her gaze away from Kyo and looked back at Yuki.

"Huh?" She had lost her train of thought for a minute. Oh! Ayame-san! "Ayame-san wanted you to go and help him decide what... Um..." She was losing her thoughts again. "Oh! He wanted you to help him decide what shirt to wear under his kimono during the dance and said, er, it's very important that he has just the right one."

"Oh, hell," Yuki muttered. "He's the fashion expert and Hatori is there, does he spend his time just thinking of ways to annoy me?"

Tohru smiled and then looked back over at Kyo and the other two, suddenly remembering her manners. "I-I'm sorry! It's a pleasure to see you Kyo-san." She said quickly bowing towards the three of them. "And it's a pleasure to meet you two. I'm Tohru Honda."

"No worries," said the shorter, black haired, young man, smiling (but there seemed to be a certain coldness- Maybe she was just imagining it) and bowing to Tohru too. "I'm Akito Sohma, it's an honor to finally meet Yuki's friend."

"And I'm Kureno Sohma." Kureno bowed too and Tohru suddenly realized that this Akito must be the head of the family.

"Ah! Thank you so much for inviting me, Akito-san, and it's an honor to meet you both."

Akito laughed, but there was an undefinable edge, "So polite, Honda-san. I assure you, I'm happy that you came." He looked over at Kyo and said, "Kyo, you're very quiet, are you feeling sick again?"

Kyo blinked and his eyes flicked from Akito to Tohru. "T-Toh... Tohru... San. Tohru-san. Hey." Tohru was surprised at him using "san." Kyo always seemed very informal. She was also surprised by Kyo's voice. He even sounded sick, his voice was shaking visibley.

"Honda-san, will you help me deal with my brother?" Yuki spoke quickly and was looking from Akito, to Kyo, and to Tohru with a slight urgency... But Tohru might have been imagining that too. She didn't know what to think here... Everything seemed somehow more complicated than it looked, but everything had been feeling that way since she started feeling sick... It must be a symptom or something. She decided she would have to ask grandpa to drive her to the doctor later.

"Sure I'll help," Tohru said, smiling at Yuki and then at Kyo. "It was nice seeing you again, Kyo-san." Yuki took her hand, nothing special really they really were just friends, and he led her back to where Ayame was.

"Did anyone else say anything about today?" Yuki distracted her attention, so Tohru didn't notice the stricken look Kyo was watching them leave with, or his mouth forming soundless words. She didn't see Akito's friendly smile turn into a satisfied smirk.

"Um..." Tohru tried to remember. "When Hatori-san left Ayame-san said that their dance was called the- er- embrace team...?"

Yuki laughed a little and shook his head. "Hatori isn't going to like that."

The shirt was picked out easily (Ayame actually just wanted to irritate Yuki, of course) and the dance was, in Tohru's opinion, very beautiful. She met a few more Sohmas: Rin, who Tohru only had time to introduce herself to before she dissapeared somewhere, Ritsu, who was friendly... But seemed to have a self esteem problem and was, to Tohru's surprise, a man, Haru and Momiji she knew from school, and she had met Shigure before. There were a few people who didn't show up- two middle schoolers.

"Um, Yuki, where's the bathroom?" It was almost time to eat dinner and Tohru realized that she did have to go to the bathroom and it would be rude to leave in the middle of the meal... Plus she would probably get lost in the huge house.

"Here, I'll show you, we still have a little time before dinner starts." They walked for a while then Yuki paused and pointed to a door slightly open down the hall a little ways. "It's right through-" He stopped and turned his head to a closed door that they were almost directly across from.

Voices could be heard easily from behind the door...

"And, Kyo, you seem so upset, I did this for your benifit. Would you rather go back _home_?" It sounded like Akito, but his voice was so different from earlier. Unpleasant... Cruel even.

There was a slight pause and then quietly, in Kyo's voice this time, "...No."

"No what?"

"No... To both."

"_Both?_ If I remember right, you wanted to see her again." There was a crash of breaking glass.

Kyo's voice sounded cautious now, "But she's different now. You knew that. I don't want to see her... Like this."

Tohru frowned and opened her mouth to ask Yuki what was going on, but he shook his head quickly, putting a finger to his lips in the universal, _be quiet_ symbol.

Akito chuckled. "She and Yuki seem to be getting along pretty well... Or didn't you notice?" After a moment of silence, "I thought you did. You know, it was always Yuki with her. She didn't tell you because she didn't want to hurt you, but with you out of the picture he could easily be with her... The fact she didn't remember helped too."

"N-no. They both said-" Kyo's voice sounded slightly desperate now.

"What would be the point of telling you? They both knew how _you_ felt, why crush your hopes and dreams when they both knew they could wait until you were gone? It was only a matter of time anyway. And her memories being erased didn't stop _Yuki's_ plans for very long."

They were talking about her. Tohru could tell... But she still was confused. She didn't like Yuki as more than a friend... And why would Kyo care? They hardly knew each other. And what did Akito mean, _"The fact she didn't remember_"? Remember what?

"No... No! You're... You're lying!" Kyo's voice was shaking and Tohru's frown got bigger. Kyo was obviously upset and Akito sounded like he was enjoying it.

"_You're accusing me of lying?" _Akito's voice was dangerous mow.

"Ye- Ah..." Kyo let out a small noise of pain and there was another sound of breaking glass.

"I'll ask again... _You're accusing me of lying_?"

Tohru had to strain to hear the answer, although she knew what it would be. "No."

Suddenly Yuki took Tohru's hand and pulled her through the door they were next to. Once he shut the door quietly, Tohru opened her mouth. "Yuki, what-"

"Shh." Yuki put his hand over her mouth, pushing her up against the wall (they were just in a closet), and didn't move it until Tohru heard a door open and footsteps faded down the hall.

"Yuki, what's going on?!" Forget being polite, Tohru could tell this was important and she had to know what was going on.

Yuki avoided her eyes and mumbled something Tohru couldn't make out. "I'll explain... But we have to straighten something out first." He opened the door and Tohru followed him into the room Akito had just left, but stopped when she saw Kyo.

"K-Kyo-san?" Kyo was kneeling in the middle of the room with his face in his hands. Tohru couldn't see his face, but there was blood seeping between his fingers and shards of glass on the floor. He looked up, anger clear on his face.

"_Stay away from me! Both of you_!" The source of the blleding was now clear. A cut that looked deep and painful went the right side of his forehead, across the bridge of his nose (narrowly missing his eye) and down to the left side of his jaw. The want of an explination left Tohru, she just knew she had to help Kyo. She kneeled down next to him, reached out to touch his shoulder, and repeated, "Kyo-san?" She didn't really know what else to say.

"_Don't touch me_!" She was vaugely aware of Kyo reaching out to hit away her hand, but as soon as she touched his shoulder, she was gone.

_"I-I'm sorry! But if you fight at school you'll get in trouble!" Tohru had just hugged Kyo to keep him from fighting with Yuki. It was school after all, but now that she realized that people could have seen it didn't seem like souch a good idea. But it was too late to take it back, so now she was looking at a pissed orange cat._

_"Get away from me! I hate you! I can't even stand to look at you!" Kyo yelled at her, arching his back and nearly hissing._

Tohru was brought back into the present, not by Kyo hitting her, even though it was hard enough to leave a red mark, but by a piercing pain in her head. Her vision blurred from the pain and she let out a small cry, feeling light headed too.

"T-Tohru!" Kyo's voice was full of guilt and Tohru felt him take her hand. "I- I didn't mean to." Why was he apologizing if he was so angry at her? If he hated her? No. No! He never said that, she was imagining things again. But he was apologizing. And a cat? What?

_They were standing in Tohru's room the evening after Kyo busted a hole through the celing. "I patched up the hole," Kyo said, his back to her. "If you don't like it call a professional."_

_"Th-thank you!" Tohru was so happy to meet the cat, but it seemed like he didn't like her._

_"About earlier," Kyo continued, sounding uncomfortable, "when I get angry I get in a rage and can't see what's around me."_

"I'm going to get Hatori."

"What? Why?" Kyo was still holding Tohru's hand, she felt like she should pull it away...

"Your face. And Honda-san seems sick again." She was fine... Yuki didn't have to worry about her... It sounded like he was...

_"Do you like the food, Kyo-kun?" Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure were sitting around the dinner table._

_"I don't know... Quit staring at me!" Kyo looked flustered._

_"I was just looking... Well do you like it?"_

_"I..." He looked around the table for a minute. "I hate it! It sucks! I mean... Sorry... That was poorly timed, it's okay."_

Tohru definatly thought she was going to collapse or throw up.

"Tohru..." There was something Kyo wanted to say, she could tell. "I'm sorry..." he was apologizing again...

_"Kyo... What if there was someone whose curse had already been broken?" Now it was just Kyo and Tohru in the classroom, everyone else had gone to find who stol the paper flowers their class had been working on._

_"Don't... Joke about the curse like that." Kyo didn't sound angry, but of course Tohru couldn't tell him what she learned about Kureno, Akito, and the curse... He might not even belive her. She looked away, confused about what to do... This was such a touchy subject._

_"Why're you all depressed now? Was it something I said?!" Kyo sighed. "Look. I'm not mad or anything. Sometimes I'm just really direct, okay?" There was a rustling of paper and Tohru looked back at Kyo: He was holding a paper flower out to her._

Curse?

"Time to go home, Kyo. I think you've caused enough trouble today." Akito was back.

"No!" Kyo stood up, forcing Tohru to stnd too as he was still holding her hand. No. She shouldn't stand up, she felt like she was going to faint, and he head _hurt_.

"Come now, let go of Honda-san." His voice was so... Nice now. Had she imagined the whole thing? No. She had seen Kyo's face and she knew what she heard.

"No!" Kyo's grip on her hand tightned, but she couldn't figure out why. There was another burst of pain in her head and she was falling foreward...

_"Wait! Please don't fight!" Tohru started walking foreward with her arms outstreached in a Stop! motion. A boy with orange hair had just burst through the roof of the Sohma's house and he and Yuki were about to fight and get hurt._

_But she slipped and fell foreward instead of stopping in front of the boy, she slipped on a piece of wood that fell from the roof. "I-" She was holding a cat. The boy had turned into an orange cat. "He's a cat! But he was human just a minute ago! Is it because I ran into him? I hit him wrong and he turned into a cat!?"_

_"No... Yes... Sort of?" Tohru looked over at a flustered Shigure and Yuki who just groaned._

_"We have to take him to the hospital! He needs medical attention!" A board that was still barely hanging from the celing fell and hit Tohru in the head. Seeing stars, she fell again into Shigure and Yuki this time. When she blinked the stars away... They were all animals._


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry that took so long!!

Kyo-san

And Tohru was falling. He reached out to grab Tohru's shoulder to keep her upright, but he was still holding onto her hand, pulled her too close to him, and only succeeded in making himself transform. He instinctivly put out his claws to steady himself, but the only thing that they got was Tohru's hand. But before he could worry about that something else took up all of his attention.

"They're all animals." Tohru mumbled it so quietly that Kyo must have been the only one heard her, but it was probably better that way. Did she remember? Did she find out about the curse again? Did she see him transform? He hoped it was the first option.

Before he had time to think on it anymore Kyo felt something hit him in the chest. Not gently. On the contrary, he was lifted up into the air and flew into a nearby wall.

_Ouch_, was the only thing he could think.

"Stupid, stupid, Cat," Kyo heard Akito say. "As usual, you're the cause of everyone's problems. Yuki, take him back to his room."

There was a pause, except from a small groan from Tohru. "Are you sure I-" Yuki started, but was cut off by Akito talking in his dangerously sweet.

"Would you rather she woke up, figured out what happened, and her memory had to be erased again?"

Kyo would rather that happened. At least Yuki would be miserable again too.

But of course not.

Kyo felt himself being lifted up off of the ground and didn't protest, it would just get him punished later. As Yuki bent back down to pick up Kyo's clothes, there was a clinking of beads.

"I'll be keeping this for a while." Kyo didn't have to look up to see what Akito was holding... But he did anyway. His bracelet. The only thing that kept him from changing into his other, or 'true', form.

"Are you sure I should-" Yuki was afraid of taking Kyo to his room- It was obvious, but Akito inturrupted again.

"Yes. And stay inside until I send someone for you." Damn. Akito hadn't left a loophole, had he?

There was silence from everyone, then Yuki started walking. After they were a ways away from everyone Yuki asked, "Where is your... Uh..." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You know..."

"Outside. It's the building behind Akito's room." When Kyo spoke he didn't bother concealing the hate in his voice. Yuki should have been able to guess how Kyo felt about him anyway. Considering what the bastard did.

"Look, I-" Yuki sounded like he was trying to apologize, which he should have been, but it wasn't like an apology was going to fix anything- No way was Kyo going to be able to forgive Yuki about this. Kyo had never even felt anything for him but hate before.

"I don't wanna hear it!" Kyo hissed as they reached his sad excuse for a house.

Yuki threw the door open and dropped Kyo and his clothes to the floor when they got inside. Kyo, being a cat, landed on his feet.

"Tohru and I-" Yuki was trying again. Kyo wanted to kill him so much. His face and voice and his stealing Tohru! Kyo felt himself change back into a human and fought the monster side of him. He wanted to fight before he transformed. He hadn't felt the need to smash someone's face in since the last time he saw Yuki... but even then it hadn't been so intense.

"_Shut up_!"

Kyo quickly pulled his pants (he didn't bother with his shirt since it would just rip when he transformed) on and turned to face Yuki. "I don't want your fucking sympathy, or your damn explination!"

"I wasn't-"

"Tell it to someone who gives a damn!" Of course Yuki felt sorry for Kyo, Kyo was locked up in a dark room without anyone but Akito for company, and it made him feel pathetic... And to tell the truth, afraid. Whenever Akito showed him sympathy, even though it always had a sarcastic edge to it and some sort of pain always followed it.

So, Kyo was thinking and thinking and getting angrier and angrier and he threw a punch at Yuki.

Now, Kyo was not a stupid person.

Really.

He knew there was no chance of beating Yuki, especially in his current, weak position, but to keep himself from transforming and to satisfy the urge to kill Yuki he needed to fight.

Yuki blocked Kyo's punches easily. Too easily. Kyo swore. He was so out of practice, not that he would need to be a good fighter in his future. He wanted to land at least one punch! Finally, Yuki put his hand over Kyo's mouth, forcing his head down the the ground and the rest of him with it.

"Listen to me!" He didn't even sound angry, which was just pissing Kyo off more. "Tohru and I are not dating! I don't feel like that about her, and you know it!"

Then Kyo transformed. He would have stopped it if he could have, but when anger and pain took him over and he was without his bracelet, the monster side of him took him over too. As he felt himself change, Yuki pulled his hand away and Kyo heard retreating footsteps, but who wouldn't run away from him in his monster form? Even Tohru would probably run away now.

"Shut up. Shut up! _Shut up!_" Kyo didn't want to hear Yuki lying to... What? Make him feel better? Damn everyone for feeling sorry for him.

Of course, Yuki wasn't lying, but Kyo didn't know that since Akito told him otherwise... And Akito's word was always considered true.

"Akito told me you did! Are you telling me he was lying?" Kyo's voice came out deep and twisted sounding. He waited for an answer, Yuki couldn't say Akito was lying, could he?

Kyo looked around for Yuki and saw him next to the door with a hand pressed over his nose. Right. When Kyo transformed he smelled like something dead.

"I... I don't feel that way about her." Yuki's face was twisted in... Disgust maybe. Kyo could only assume that Yuki was disgusted with him and how horrible he looked and sounded... He didn't realize that it was partly the smell and partly the fact that Akito told such an awful lie. Kyo just couldn't believe that Yuki was going to stand there and lie about something this huge. He was about to attack him, when there was a knock on the door... Well, he was still going to attack him then, he didn't care if it was Hatori or somone at the door... But then he heard the voice.

"Yuki-kun?" It was Tohru... And she sounded like she was holding her nose. Her voice brought back memories, they were triggered because he was in that form.

_"I know it's selfish, but I want us to be together! I want to eat meals, study, live together! Kyo had turned into his true form and ran... Tohru had seen and he thought she would run away or hate him, but she ran _after_ him and told him she still wanted to spend time with him..._

And Kyo was human again. He had closed his eyes when he heard Tohru, trying to block out all of the feelings that were flooding back- He had to hate her! It was the only way he could stay sane! But remembering how much she cared about him then had changed him back for the moment.

Kyo quickly pulled his shirt back on as Yuki opened the door just enough that he was visible, but still blocking her view of the inside. "Hello, Honda-san, I'm sorry I left you back there, but Akito asked me to take Kyo back to his room... Well, it's the guest house really."

"I'm fine." Kyo appeared behind Yuki, feeling a physical pain in his chest when he saw Tohru's smiling face. Her hand was indeed over her nose, but when she saw Kyo she moved it so she was feeling his forehead with the back of it.

"Kyo-kun, are you sure you're feeling alright? You look sick." Her eyes were sort of unfocused when she spoke, but the slid back into focus quickly. "I-I-I'm sorry!" She said and pulled her hand away, her face reddening. "That was very rude of me, Kyo-san!"

No. Kyo realized something. Whether Tohru was remembering or not, Kyo was going to be stuck in this awful room all alone, while Yuki was there helping her remember...

"Get out." Kyo pushed Yuki out the door and then slammed it behind him... He hated this, he was going to transform again.

"Kyo-san...?" Tohru sounded confused, her voice was quiet.

"It's okay, Honda-san, let's go." Retreating footsteps... Then, so quiet that Kyo could hardly make it out:

"Yuki-kun, do you smell that?" There was a Mhmming noise from Yuki and then Tohru continued, "What is it?"

The last thing Kyo could make out was Yuki's fading voice, he would have preffered it to be Tohru... "There's a sewer somewhere around here..."


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this one took so long to get out- I had some writers' block. Enjoy!

Yuki-kun

Tohru swallowed Yuki's lie about a sewer being nearby surprisingly well. Yuki felt a twinge of guilt and sighed softly- All of these lies were getting tiring. When Yuki sat with Tohru that day he didn't think of how hard it would be to keep the curse away from her again, because Akito wouldn't let her remember that information for a second time.

Tohru just nodded and said, "Oh." She was silent for a moment then took Yuki's hand and then asked, "Does Kyo-san dislike me?"

_No, but he hates me._ When Tohru took Yuki's hand he felt another surge of guilt... This was going to be happening a lot it seemed. But this was completely innocent! They were and would always be just friends. But what if they became more than friends? Yuki wouldn't think of Tohru as a girlfriend, but it would give Kyo a reason to be angry and Yuki wouldn't break up with her and drive her away... They could get married and Tohru would never have to leave him.

But that was crazy talk... Akito would never allow it and they couldn't be married without hugging at some point.

Suddenly, Yuki remembered he hadn't answered Tohru's question. "He doesn't hate you, he's just embarassed that we overheard his thing with Akito." Yuki continued quickly because he knew Tohru was going to ask questions about that. "Akito is a little... Mentally unstable. Every year someone is unlucky enough to recieve his wrath and this year it was Kyo." From then on, Yuki let his mid wander, but kept his mouth spouting lies... It was easiest not to overthink them.

Yuki stopped talking after a few minutes, still unsure of everything he said. He said something about Kyo having a little bit of a crush on Tohru and there was something else involved, but he didn't get too specific.

Tohru looked unsure and more than a little confused, but Yuki didn't have much time to think about that, because he saw something that took him completely by surprise.

Yuki had led Tohru around the outside of the main house to avoid having to face his family for any longer and they almost made a clean getaway when Yuki literally bumped into Kazuma Sohma, Kyo's 'father.' And he looked beyond pissed. Kazuma's eyes had a fire in them that Yuki had never seen before.

"Where is he?" Kazuma said through gritted teeth.

"Who...?" When Kazuma spoke again, Yuki knew he should have realized...

"Akito! He didn't tell me Kyo was coming for the feast! He should have been with me, the cat doesn't have a place in the feast, and then he went and invited _her_, this obviously isn't her fault, but what purpose does inviting her serve besides hurting everyone?" Yuki cleared his throat and looked over towards a bewildered Tohru, but Kazuma didn't notice. "_Where is he?"_

"He's inside and Kyo went back to his room... He wasn't feeling well."

"Wasn't...?" Kazuma finally caught sight of Tohru and, after a short panic filled look, smiled, all anger seemingly forgotten. "I apologize, Honda-san I assume? All of the Sohma's have heard about you from Yuki and Kyo. I am Kazuma Sohma, Kyo's father. Now, if you excuse me, I have some business to attend to inside." He walked off quickly without waiting for any response from Tohru.

"Er..." More lies? "Sorry, he has a temper." Yes, more lies.

Hi statement was partly varified by the sound of yelling from inside, but thankfully the words were too muffled to make out.

They started walking again and Tohru finally asked, "What's going on? There's something that you're not telling me."

Yuki didn't want to lie about this... It was more important than lying about why Akito hit Kyo... The curse was... Big. To say the least.

Yuki stayed silent until they reached Tohru's house. Being Tohru, she just waited patiently for his answer and when they got to her door, she stood outside, still waiting.

Yuki scrambled to find something, a lie, to tell her, but nothing came to mind. People didn't find out about the curse because he kept his distance from them, but now Tohru was in a position where the only thing that would make sense is the explination about the curse.

Yuki felt a feeling of guilt settle in his stomach and expected it wouldn't go away anytime soon as he asked, "Honda-san, would you like to go out to lunch with me tomorrow? I'll explain things then."

Tohru didn't answer for a minute, it was obvious that she wanted to know right then, but she was, if anything, polite and patient, so she nodded and said, "Okay."

"Is noonish alright?" Tohru nodded quickly, said a goodbye, and hurried inside.

-----

Yuki watched Tohru sip her lemonade and watch him. They were sitting across from each other in a diner.

So, what Yuki had come up with was that Kyo, instead of going to boarding school like everyone the high schol thought, was sick. Really sick- That took care of his appearence. Akito was insane- Yuki already told Tohru that, but he would probably tell her again to make his explination seem longer.

Yuki opened his mouth, but before he could start explaining a familiar voice that was definatly going to ruin everything inturrupted him.

"Yuki-kun? Tohru-san?" Akito was standing by the door with, oh crap, Kazuma and Kyo. Was it just Yuki or did anyone else notice that Kyo kept showing up at bad times?

Tohru froze when Akito spoke, her drink halfway back down to the table. She was no doubt a little afraid to be in the same place as someone as mentally unbalanced as Akito, but Yuki gave her a small smile to hopefully reassure her that Akito wasn't going to hurt her or anything and she returned his smile and set her cup down.

"Hello, Akito," Yuki looked back over at Akito, Kazuma, and Kyo, avoiding looking at anyone but Akito. It wasn't like he had any reason to feel guilty, he and Tohru were just talking... Just the two of them... Over lunch... But it was not in any way a date.

"We were just going to have lunch before Kyo has to go back to school," AKA before he has to go back 'home,' but Yuki wondered how Kazuma managed to get him out even for lunch, "can we join you?" Yes, of course that would be greeeaaat. Just what they needed, someone who was scaring Tohru, an angry Kyo, and a Kazuma who wouldn't be angry at Yuki, but his understanding attitude would make Yuki feel even guiltier.

"Yeah, if you want. Is that okay, Honda-san?" Yuki looked over at Tohru again and she nodded slowly, but still looked a little afraid.

"It's fine!' She squeaked out. Yuki smiled, she was brave for facing one of her fears like this, even if there was no reason for her to be afraid.

He leaned across the table and and whispered in Tohru's ear, "If you want to leave you can, but Akito won't hurt you. But I understand if you want to leave."

"That... That would be rude of me," Tohru said quietly, looking down at the table and frowning.

"It's alright," Yuki assured her. After he spoke, he leaned back to his own seat and looked back over at Akito, Kyo, and Kazuma.

Kazuma had on hand on Kyo's arm and was saying something, but he was talking to softly for Yuki to hear him. Kyo stopped staring at Yuki and Tohru and started turning back towards the door, but Akito leaned towards him and said something (again, too soft for Yuki to hear) and he stopped, turned around again, and walked purposely towards Yuki and Tohru's table. There was something about his expression... The fire that had been lacking in his eyes the past few time Yuki saw Kyo was back... But not in a healthy way at all. It was almost hungry.

Kazuma followed Kyo and grabbed his shoulder just before he got to the table. "Kyo, what did he-"

"Kazuma-san, I think we need to chat." Akito was now beside the two. Tohru threw Yuki a questioning look, but he just shrugged slightly. He truthfully had no idea what was going on.

"I think so." Kazuma glared at Akito's back as he followed Akito to the back of the diner.

As soon as their backs were turned, Kyo grabbed the collar of Yuki's shirt and nearly pulled him off of his seat. "We need to _talk _too."

Yuki stood up, surprised at how strong Kyo was. Last time they saw each other they fought and it was easier than ever. Kyo half dragged Yuki outside and thn abruptly stopped right outside of the diner. "What?" Yuki looked at Kyo and then at Tohru, who had followed them outside, as if she would have the answer.

Then, crazily, Kyo took a fighting stance. "Well?" He looked at Yuki like he was expecting him to do the same. "We're fighting."

The next move was proabably not a smart one for Yuki, but the idea of fighting Kyo when he was so weak and out of practice seemed absurd. So he laughed. Just once, but it was enough. Next, the only two things Yuki could comprehend were a blinding pain in the side of his face and a shriek from Tohru.

He blinked away the black spots that were dancing in front of his eyes and narrowed his eyes at Kyo. That actually hurt. Fine. If Kyo wanted a fight he was going to get a fight.

But it wasn't as easy as usual (meaning before Kyo went into isolation), punches that would usually throw Kyo were just making him stumble. "What the hell?" Yuki yelled in frustration as Kyo dodged a punch.

"Akito said if I beat you then I get to leave!" It couldn't be just that though, Kyo's eyes were shining with hatred. "And you, dammit! The only time you ever have to see me for the rest of your life you fucking lie!" What was he talking about- Oh. It hit Yuki then. Tohru.

"We're not dating!" That was all Yuki could really say, but there was no way to make Kyo believe him. "You would have gotten back in contact with her too if our places were traded."

Kyo stopped for a second and stared at Yuki in disbelief. "You're going to talk to me about trading places?! You try spending one damn day where I have to spend everyday and then tell me you wouldn't be doing _this_ if we I was seeing her again!" He pointed at Tohru and she said uncertainly, "Kyo-san?... Yuki-kun...?"

"You don't seem to be spending that much time inside..." Another stupid move on Yuki's part. It had just slipped out, the energy of the fight had slipped him back into the habit of insulting Kyo while they fought and... He didn't mean to say something so nasty.

Kyo lunged at Yuki, pinning him up against a wall they had been about a foot away from by his neck. "Don't tell me that I haven't been spending any time in that prison! It's been no one but Akito for six months straight, and now you're trying to tell me that the two days that I'm allowed out for the sole purpose of hurting me count as a lot?!"

Yuki's energy was nearly spent. He could hardly try to push Kyo away, let alone stop him from tightening his grip around Yuki's neck. There was a shout of, "Someone call the police!" And then running footsteps. It was clear that Kyo meant to kill Yuki- And it was working.

Yuki couldn't breath or move and black spots were appearing in front of his eyes. That was it. The Cat was going to beat the Rat.

And then he was doubled over and gasping for air. But he couldn't fall, then the Cat would win.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Yuki lifted up his head to see Kazuma with his arms wrapped around the struggling Kyo to keep him from attacking again.

Suddenly, Kyo stopped struggling and groaned. Of couse the fighting would have takn some kind of toll on him, he was weak and not used to using so much energy at one time, or getting hit like that. Kazuma let go of Kyo and he dropped to the ground on all fours, grimacing. Yuki sat down, he had won. It didn't make him feel triumphant or anything though.

"Pity you stopped him." Akito was now on the scene, looking unworried. "The Cat was going to win."

"If Tohru-san hadn't come an got us, Kyo would have killed him!" Kazuma kneeled down next to Kyo and glared up at Akito.

"I still will dammit!" Kyo panted out, sending a hate filled look at Yuki. Yuki looked around for Tohru and only caught one glance of her wide-eyed, fear filled face before she pushed through the crowd of people who had now gathered and ran down the street.


	8. Chapter 8

Tohru

Tohru was running. She had to get home. It might have made more sense to stick around and ask Yuki about the fight that had just happened, but Tohru was afraid. Kyo had tried to _kill_ Yuki. She knew that was his intention... And becuase of her. But why? She had no idea why.

As much as she hated to admit it, Tohru was now terrified of being near Kyo or Akito, and she was almost afraid of being around Yuki now- It might just be all Sohmas, she wasn't really sure since she wasn't around any othr Sohmas.

"Ah!" Tohru was suddenly falling towards the cold, hard ground. Her hands shot out in front of her to stop her from falling on her face and she let out a small, "Ow," as they hit the ground.

A quiet, alarmed voice saying, "Onee-chan!"

Tohru looked up at

_a young boy sitting on a small brick wall. "Pick that up." He was looking pointedly at a boot that was sitting under him on the ground._

_"Sure!" Tohru said cheerfully, picking up the boot and handing it to the boy._

_"Are you just going to do everything anyone tells you to?" He asked, jumping off the wall and grabbing the boot. "If someone told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?"_

Tohru blinked a few times, coming back into reality in a dizzying rush. She was looking up at the boy that she had just been 'looking' at, but this time he was standing in front of her and looking disgusted, and a girl with orange hair who looked about his age was standing behind him and looking worried.

"You ran into me," The boy sneered at Tohru and looked down at a few books at his feet.

"Oh," she mumbled, "sorry, Hiro-san. I- I wasn't looking where I was going." She gathered up the books, stood, and handed them to the boy.

"You should- How do you know my name?" The disgust in the boy's eyes was replaced by curoisity. The girl behind him frowned.

"I- What?" Tohru honestly couldn't remember what she had just said.

The boy shook his head and glared at Tohru. "You forget things so easily. You would forget even if it would hurt people, I bet."

"Hiro..." The girl tugged on the boy, Hiro's, coat sleeve and looked from him to Tohru and back. "Stop... Please..."

Hiro made a _hmph_ing noise and turned around with the girl, walking away from Tohru quickly. She could still here their voices as the walked away.

"Hiro, why did you do that? It wasn't her fault that she..."

"She just let it happen, Kisa!"

"Akito said... And you didn't have to trip her."

Then they were too far away to hear.

Akito? So they were Sohmas? Tohru shook her head and began walking quickly towards home again. She felt like she was falling deeper and deeper into a pit of confusion and the harder she tried to get out, the farther she fell.

What did she have to do with the Sohmas? They all acted so strangely around her... Even if Yuki said it was normal, Tohru couldn't see how it could be. She sighed, lost in thought for the next part of her walk, until she fell again and let out a small yelp of pain, cutting her hands and knees on the gravel- Wait. What? Tohru's grandfather's house had a paved driveway...

Tohru looked up at... Yuki's house. The sound of a door opening stopped Tohru from thinking anymore. She stood up and ducked behind a nearby bush, kneeling and breathing as softly as she could.

"Yukiii, is that you home from lunch with-" Shigure had come out of the house and walked down the driveway, but stopped when he saw no one. "Huh, that's funny." He shrugged and turned back to the house.

Tohru closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. Something was going on- Something big- and it was scaring her. She had just meant to go home and she had ended up at Yuki's house... And she had been getting sicker lately and she felt sick now, her stomach suddenly started churning and she felt like she was going to throw up.

_"Congratulations on opertation: Kidnap the Princess!" Shigure told Yuki and Kyo, clapping. After Tohru had gone back to live with her grandfather, Yuki and Kyo had gone there to take her back to their house. Tohru hadn't realized how much she hard it would be to leave and how much she would miss them and Shigure. She had been feeling sad, her grandpa told her she could go back if she wanted, and then Yuki and Kyo just burst in! Needless to say she was happy, but a little embarrased too._

_"At least call it a _rescue_," Yuki said, looking at Shigure without amusement._

_"You make it sound as if we did something wrong." Kyo was watching Shigure with the same expression that Yuki was._

_"Um... I'm back. I hope that's not a problem." Tohru felt extremely awkward just barging back in._

_Shigure nodded. "Yes, yes. It's alright, just leave all your worries to me. Just make sure you don't run away again." Shigure went on to have an arguement with Yuki about whether or not he was flustered, and when Kyo joined in (on the side saying Yuki was flustered of course) Yuki punched him and another fight was starting..._

_"Damn Yuki! Today you're going down!" Kyo took a fighting stance, but Yuki crossed his arms and looked at Kyo without interest._

_"Oh. It's on now."_

_Shigure chuckled and then said to Tohru, "It's not much of a home... But if you'll take it, Tohru-kun, it's yours."_

_Tohru smiled, happy to be home with her family. "Yes!"_

Tohru came back dizzily and groaned softly. She stood,and after checking that Shigure was back inside, started running to her home again, more confused than ever.

When Tohru finally got to her_ real_ home, she found it deserted. It was better that way since she didn't want to worry her grandpa or be around her other relatives right then. Tohru hardly made it to her bedroom before she felt another blinding pain in her head and fell into another strange, unreal memory.

_"Why does Yuki look like a madchen?" Tohru had been living with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure for four months now, and now it was time for the annual high school fall festival. Tohru's class was selling onigiri, but Yuki was roping in most of the customers... By dressing up like a girl. He had been enduring the humiliation rather well until a young looking blond boy had jusmped onto his shoulders. It was the same boy who had kissed Tohru after she was done at work the other night right after rattling off something in German to her._

_Soon a man came wandering over. He was the tall, dark, and handsome type. "Don't wander around by yourself."_

_"Ja!" Momiji said while the girls swooned over the man. He bowed and introduced himself to Tohru, "Guten tag! I'm Momiji Sohma. I'm half Greman, half Japanese. And this is Hatori Sohma. We're relatives of Yuki and Kyo!"_

_Tohru was learning new things and meeting new people every day it seemed like! Tohru learned that Yuki was sick, nothing serious though, just something similar to asthma she thought._

_"I see... You really are a 'normal' girl." Hatori was looking at Tohru with a thoughtful expression on his face._

_"Hey! Don't climb on the booth! What are you doing, idiot?!" Kyo's loud voice ruined any chance for further talking. Tohru turned and saw him trying to pull Momiji off of the onigiri stand._

_"I-I'll be right back," Tohru stammered, rushing off to Kyo and Momiji, wanting to avoid trouble._

_When Tohru arrived behind the stand, Momiji was crying that Kyo hit him on the head, but as soon as the little boy saw Tohru, he smiled. "Ah, Tohru! You know about the Zodiac thing, right?"_

_"Uh, yes." She nodded._

_"YAY! Then I can hug you!" Tohru would have liked that- She wanted to know what Zodiac animal Momiji was, but Kyo stopped him._

_"Think about where we are!"_

_"I bet Kyo hugs her everyday!" The taunt worked. Blushing and denying it, Kyo let go of Momiji and he jumped at Tohru and wrapped his arms around her, causing a puff of purple smake and a rabbit sitting in her arms now..._

Tohru came back to her senses and was sitting on the floor of her room, still with a pounding pain in her head. She pulled herself onto the bed and then, before she could even get her head to her pillow, she was flashing back to forgotten memories again. This time, she saw everything from Kyo first busting through the roof to after finding out that Akito was a woman. It was all one sped up rush and seemed like all the events were blended together, but when Tohru regained her sense, she remembered everything... Well, nearly. But she couldn't comprehend any of it- Her only thought was getting to the bathroom, she was going to throw up.

Tohru made it to the toilet, threw up, and then sunk into one last memory

_Hatori was taking Kyo away. Why? Why did hermemories have to be erased and Kyo put in isolation now? "But... But..." She was struggling against Shigure's grip, it was the only thing holding her back from getting to Kyo. _

_"Tohru, Tohru, I-" Hatori's hand covered Kyo's mouth and all she could hear was mumbles._

_The doo swung shut behind Hatori and Kyo and after the sounds of Hatori's car could no longer be heard, Shigure let go of Tohru. Tohru had a crazy thought to go after the car, but that would be no use, so she put her face in her hands and started crying. She let Yuki put his hand on her shoulder and heard him say to Shigure, "No warning or anything?! What the hell?!" He was mad. Yuki hardly ever swore. But Tohru suspected that he was angrier about Tohru's memories being erased than Kyo being put in isolation. "What? What are you doing?"_

_Tohru looked up and wiped her eyes (that didn't do anything, new tears just replaced the ones she wiped away) and saw Shigure holding out a phone to her. She blinked at him, uncomprehending until Shigure said, "You need to call your friends and grandpa." He sounded uncomfortable and wouldn't look at her or Yuki._

_"Oh." She took the phone. What else was there to do?_

_"Toh-_

ru-chan?" Tohru sat up and stammered to whoever was talking to her, "I'm fine! I'm sorry that I'm in here. Uh, I think I ate something bad at lunch and I wasn't feeling well."

She stood up and saw her cousin standing at the bathroom door. If she had been worried, she wasn't showing it now. "Whatever. There was some blood on the door handle so I just wanted to see what happened."

"I fell," Tohru said quickly, standing and showing her cousin her hands. "Sorry, I was still bleeding when I came in I guess. I'll clean it when I get back."

"Where are you going? Are you sure you don't want to change? There's some blood on you're skirt, too."

"It's fine, goodbye." Tohru walked outside, completely forgetting to put on a coat... Come to think of it, she had forgotten her coat at the restaraunt earlier. But now she remembered everything. Tohru had called her friends to invite them to a sleep over. They could tell she was crying so they came over to her grandpa's house right away. They had wondered what was making her upset and where 'Orangey' was, but of course she still couldn't tell them. When Hatori arrived (it took a while because he said they had some trouble with Kyo) he didn't explain to Uo and Hana what was going on but he asked to talk to each of Tohru's relatives seperately and alone and then modified each of their memories to forget that Tohru hadn't been livin with them. Then Hatori took care of Uo, Hana, explained to Tohru that he was going to put in a sad movie (the Titanic) in the VCR to explain her tears. He erased her memory, they all woke up later and didn't suspect a thing.

But the worst part of it was that she remembered the time she didn't remember everything that had happened the past few years. She didn't remember the curse, or even living with the Sohmas. Tohru shook her head to clear it. She needed to talk to someone, but she couldn't go to any of the cursed Sohmas, they would have to tell Akito. Oh this was awful.

And then Tohru saw the answer walking towards her. She had walked out the door and into town without realizing it, but it was lucky that she did. Someone looking uncharacteristically upset and angry was walking down the street and glaring ahead of him.

"Shishou-san!" Tohru wiped away the tears she hadn't noticed she started crying again and ran over to him.

When Kazuma saw her he smiled half heartedly and said, "Hello, Tohru-san how are-" He paused, a confused look passing over his face. "What did you just call me?"

"Sh-Shishou-san," Tohru said again, "I remembered."

Comprehension was dawning on his face. "What? What do you remember?"

"Everything. Everything that I forgot." There was nothing more than that she could say. "I-I need to see Kyo-kun!" She knew she needed to see him, and apologize, because in her mind this whole predicament was partly her fault. Maybe if she had resisted her memory being erased more or at least _tried_ to do _something_. "Please!"

Kazuma looked at Tohru silently for a moment and then nodded. "I think he needs to see you too. We'll figure something out."


	9. Chapter 9

I'm sorry this took so long!! I just couldn't get myself to write for some reason... And just for a heads up, I'm going to end this in a few chapters...

Kyo

For the past few hours Kyo had been in a rage. He had yelled and screamed about everything he hated. From himself to the universe and everything in between he could think of. He had needed to get rid of his excess anger, but now he had run out of steam.

Currently, Kyo was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed tightly, crying (But trying to convince himself he wasn't- Crying was for weak people). Shishou was siting next to him with his arms around Kyo- A father trying (and failing) to comfort his son. "I'm an horrible person," Kyo said, barely above a whisper, but knowing it was true.

"You're not," Shishou said firmly, just as he had been assuring Kyo since they got back from the restaurant.

"I am! I tried to kill someone. I _wanted_ to kill him." Fine, dammit, he was crying. But that aside, Kyo did feel bad, but only because he never thought he could actually want someone dead like that. He shivered involuntarily and Shishou hugged him closer.

"You just were taking your rage out." He made it sound like Kyo had done nothing wrong. "You might have taken it out in unhealthy way, but Yuki happened to be around and you just... Lost control."

"But the rat knew what it was like here..." Kyo had totally forgotten that, it made him feel worse. He wouldn't wish this on anyone even his worse enemy- Unless they were going to trade places and he could be out of here forever... Maybe.

"I think that your situations were a little different... I think Yuki had a bit more freedom than you and while he mostly accepted the fact that he was imprisoned, you're trying to fight against it any way you can."

"Don't let him fool you, Kyo," Kyo had almost forgotten Akito was still there, he had only thrown in a few hurtful comments, "you're first instinct was right. You _are_ horrible. Worse than that actually-"

The rest of Akito's words were too muffled to make out as Shishou put one hand over Kyo's ear and pulled him closer, his other ear's hearing being muffled by the fabric of Shishou's kimono.

Shishou was talking louder than Akito was, so Kyo could hear him almost perfectly. "That's enough, Akito."

There was some more talking that Kyo couldn't hear, and then Shishou again. "I'm not leaving." No. No no no no no no no. Shishou couldn't leave now. When Kyo was feeling so awful he didn't want to be alone or, heaven forbid, Akito.

"I think you are." Akito had raised his voice, so Kyo could make out his words now. "I've been _extremely_ lenient today. I even let the monster out of his cage. Now, I suggest you leave before your visiting privileges are suspended."

"No! Don't leave!" Kyo felt all of five again as he grabbed the front of Shishou's kimono and tried to hold back even more tears that were threatening to spill out... Like that could stop him from leaving.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Shishou said gently, moving his hand from the side of Kyo's head (maybe realizing that he could hear everything they were saying anyway), patted his back, then spoke again, this time to Akito, "Before... Before my visiting privileges are _suspended_?" Shishou's tone had changed to match Akito's almost exactly- They were both filled with suppressed rage.

"Alright..." Akito's voice had taken on a dangerous pleasantness. A sure sign for worry. "You can stay I suppose, but once I leave, I lock the doors and I have the only key. But if you want to stay in here, you two can starve..."

Shishou didn't answer. It was clear Akito wasn't joking- He would leave them to starve in there. When Shishou did speak again, his voice was stone cold. "Fine. But I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning." It was Saturday, Sunday started a new week after all.

Akito made a noise that gave off the impression he didn't care, which was probably the case, and Kyo heard footsteps moving towards the door.

"Kyo, I'm going to leave, but I'll be back tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I promise." But that wouldn't be the case. Akito wouldn't get up first thing in the moring just to let Shishou in to see the Cat. Even if he did, after Shishou left, it would be six more days before he could see him again.

But there was no point in arguing, so he just mumbled a, "Sure," and lay down on the hard floor, feeling utterly hopeless.

About an hour later (or so Kyo guessed, but he didn't have a very good sense of time anymore) Kyo heard a voice again.

"Please, Hatori, just open the door." Shishou?

"A-Akito told me not to let you in..." Hatori sounded unsure and nervous... And something else Kyo had to think about for a minute before he realized what it was- He sounded guilty.

"You won't be letting me in." And the next voice made Kyo sure that he had dozed off and this was all a dream.

In the past six months, Kyo had become very good at recognizing when he was dreaming. Good dreams or bad, there were always signs to show that they were dreams. Usually Tohru was there- Like now. "Hatori-san, _please_!" She sounded so desprate that Kyo thought this was going to turn into nightmare eventually.

In a way the good dreams were worse than nightmares because when he woke up he would still be alone and see Tohru again, escaping without problems, never getting locked up in first place, were all just dreams.

But, might as well make the most of it. Kyo stood up and started walking towards the door but tripped halfway there and fell to the ground, hitting his knee at an odd and painful angle.

Wait.

Hold the phone.

Pain? You don't get hurt in dreams. But this definatly hurt.

In the case of this being real, Kyo stood up, winced, and backtracked as far as he could- All the way up to the wall. If this wasn't a dream, Kyo didn't want it to happen. If Tohru really remembered, then she would have to have her memories erased again and that would be too awful to handle. He didn't want to know! This was all just going to cause him more useless pain!

They group outside must have talked some more, because he could hear Hatori's voice saying in a defeated, but still guilty voice, "Alright, but when you get inside I'm going to shut the door so that if Akito would happen to come back he doesn't suspect anything. Okay?"

There was the sound of keys jingling and the click of the lock, and then everything but the dark sillouette of Tohru in the doorway was engulfed in a bright, burning light.

"Kyo-kun!" She sounded close to tears.

The door shut again and Kyo heard Shishou say, "I'll tell you if anyone is coming so you can get out quickly." The room was on top of a hill so Shishou would be able to see them well before they reached the room. Hatori announced he was going to leave, Tohru stepped inside, someone shut the door, and they were enveloped in darkness again.

"Kyo-kun?" Tohru's voice sounded steadier, but this was exactly what Kyo didn't want. She was shut in the room with him. No, no, no!

He could hear Tohru's hesitant footsteps, she must have remembered where she saw him, but it would be too dark for her to walk quickly without tripping. That wasn't a problem for Kyo anymore. He could manuver around the room without running into the bed or a wall easily. "Stay away from me." His voice was surprisingly cold and emotionless. And all apart from when his voice cracked slightly in the middle of 'away,' it was perfectly steady.

Kyo heard her footsteps change to walk towards where he was standing and then moved again. He spoke again, not realizing his voice was leading Tohru to him. "Stay away! I mean it! I don't want to see you, hear you, or even know you are anywhere near me!"

_What in the fuck are you doing?!_ Kyo's mind was screaming at him, rejecting everything he had just said. _This is everything you've been wanting!_ He even lurched forward involuntarily towards her, but caught himself before he could take more than one step.

If he just went to her and acknowlaged that he still had any sort of pleasant feelings towards her, then everything Kyo had been doing for the past six months had been a waste. The truth was, even thought Kyo was trying to hate Tohru, he didn't want to. But if he was going to have any peace whatsoever, he had to convince himself that he wasn't being cut off from anything he felt attatched to or would miss. Sunshine? Who needs it- Sunburns suck anyway. School? Too much trouble and too many annoying people to deal with. Tohru? ...He didn't need her can do attitude, and it was partly her fault he was there, right?... Right?

Fine. He wasn't fooling himself, but maybe he would be able to believe that eventually.

"Kyo-"

"What's wrong with you?! Can't you hear?! I don't want you near me. I hate you!" Huh. Kyo had some kind of talent. His voice had gone from calm to hysterical in under a minute.

Then he heard a soft thumping noise, like Tohru had tripped or sat down heavily. "O-Okay. If you really want me to leave then I will." Kyo's mind continued to scream at him, and he couldn't help but notice that Tohru definatly sounded like she was crying. "But first I have to say something. I-I-I'm sorry! I n-need to apologize, because this is..." She paused and all Kyo could think was, _Tohru's fault...?_ "This is partly my fault! I should have fought harder to help you or to keep my memories, but I just accepted that there was nothing I could do and let everything happen."

So... Tohru blamed herself while Kyo was trying to blame her? Just hearing her quietly crying, and knowing she was feeling guilty, when this was really all _Kyo's_ fault for not trying hard enough to stay out of this hellhole, filled Kyo with guilt of his own. How could he have tried to hate her?

Then, even though Kyo knew that he should have still acted like he hated her and let Tohru leave for her own good, and his own good too, they wouldn't be able to get back what they had lost from their relationship while Kyo was locked up, even if she could visit it ould be virtually possible to fill the gap that would become apparant soon.

But, in spite of all of that, Kyo walked towards where he judged Tohru was sitting and half fell, half sat next to Tohru. He had misjudged the distance, he had meant to keep some space between them, when he sat down their legs brushed up against each other's.

"Tohru..." Kyo choked out softly, he was having a little trouble breathing.

"I'm so sorry," Tohru repeated. Without saying anything, Kyo leaned towards her and sort of collapsed against her. Transforming had never felt so good- He wasn't doing it becuase of weakness, it was because he had put his arms around Tohru.

Forget the gap, that didn't matter now. All that mattered was that Tohru was holding him close to her and it felt like there was still hope that everything was going to be fine, no matter how little hope there was.

"I missed you, Tohru," Kyo mumbled, purring softly.

"Tohru-san!" Shishou's voice was rushed and urgent, "You have to get out, Akito's coming." No, not now. Tohru had to stay, and it seemed like she thought so, too.

"Oh, alright, I'll be out in... One minute..." Tohru didn't sound worried, and Kyo couldn't bring himself to worry, either. She squeezed him tighter and said softly, "Just give me one more minute." She was still crying, but then again, so was Kyo- It wasn't ony because of saddness he was crying now, though. Tohru loosened her grip on him some and stirred like she was going to stand up.

Kyo made a small, "Nn," noise, she couldn't go, not yet, but then they both froze at the next sound. A voice.

"Hello again, Kazuma-san." Akito.


	10. Chapter 10

A line break will represent a change of PoV (or whatever you want to call it) I will write who the new PoV is, though.

Thanks again to everyone who reads, reviews, and enjoys this I hope you all like this chapter, It's probably my favorite (and not just because of what happens at the end! Haha) because I've had it in my mind since I started this story... I think it turned pretty good...

WARNING: A little spoiler about Rin from volume 18 when she comes in... A tiny one

I don't know if you'd consider this ending a cliffhanger, but maybe I should make sure it is just to uphold my title as "The Queen of Cliffies"... Thanks Tifa! But, yeah, I didn't change it xD

Hatori-san

As soon as Hatori slipped the small key into the lock of the door to Kyo's cell, he had the overwhelming feeling that this was only going to end badly. How else could it end? This was going to e bad for at least one person. Tohru would get caught, or she would never find another time to come back, or Akito would find out about Hatori letting someone in, even if she just thought it was Kazuma, and would punish him.

But he still opened the door for Tohru and couldn't help frowning at her expression. She looked scared, but also hopeful, and, in Hatori's opinion, hope at this point was useless.

But then again, Hatori probably wasn't the best person to ask about hope and love, a thing that everyone had seen blossoming between Kyo and Tohru before Tohru's memories were erased. After all, his experience with both made left him a little bitter and jaded.

But he still wrapped his hand around the doorknob of the cat's prison, twisted it, and pushed the door open because of one thing. Guilt.

Hatori was no stranger to guilt. He had felt less guilt than when he erased Tohru's memories when he had to erase the memories of Yuki's friends all those years ago and that was awful. This was a thousand times worse. He had seen the pain on just Yuki's face when he erased his friends' memories, but this affected the whole Sohma family. He hadn't wanted to cause misery for the whole family, why would he have wanted to inflict so much pain on everyone? He didn't want to erase her memories, but there was nothing else to do, and so when Tohru had come to him asking for help, he had practically jumped at the chance to relieve some of these awful feelings. But he was only now thinking about how awful the consequences of this could be.

Hatori stepped away from the door and mumbled a half-hearted, "Good luck," to Tohru. He did want Tohru to help Kyo in some way. Even if there was nothing she could do, it would be good for them to see each other, for Kyo to know that Tohru had her memories back. He sighed, he knew something like this was going to happen and despite that fact that he thought Tohru, Kyo, and the rest of the family were due for some happiness with each other, he knew something bad was going to happen.

But, never the less, Hatori tried to suppress a frown as Tohru went inside and Kazuma told her he was going to shut the door. Hatori held out the key to Kazuma and said softly, "You should probably lock the door. If Akito does come, then while he's unlocking the door Tohru might have time to hide." He knew there was a bathtub and few thins like that inside.

Kazuma smiled slightly and said, "Thank you." Hatori just nodded and started back down the hill toward the main house hastily, his mind full of worries.

"Oof." With is mind being so distracted, Hatori hadn't been looking where he was walking and, about half way back to the house, had run right into Akito. Splendid. His mind raced to come up with a reason for being around here, he could tell Akito was going to ask him by the curious and annoyed expression on her face. "Oh, Akito, there you are. I was just wondering , because, ah, it's time for your check up and I have a shot to give to you." Everything he had just said was a form of the truth... Sort of.

"That can wait," Akito told him, seeming to accept his explination and starting back up the hill, "until after I'm done visiting the cat again. He hasn't received any real punishment for the incident earlier. It's hard to do much when that Kazuma is around, he makes such a fuss." No! Things were about to get messy...

Hatori jogged to catch up with Akito and scrambled to come up with something to make her stop and slow down. Hope fully Kazuma could see her by now. "But this is important. We've been putting this off for too long already and you could get sick."

Akito stopped, almost causing Hatori to run into her again, and glared at him suspiciously, her dark eyes icy. "Is there something you should be telling me, Hatori?"

Hatori was silent for a minute and then responed with, "Such as..."

"Such as _that_." They had rounded a bend and now the cat's room was in plain sight... And so was Kazuma standing in front of the door. Akito had her arm stretched out and was pointing toward the building, But she didn't wait for an answer, she just walked the rest of way to the cat's house, and Hatori followed, trying to keep panic or worry off his face.

"Hello again, Kazuma-san." Akito had stopped in front of Kazuma and was not trying to keep the anger off of her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see my son," Kazuma replied coolly. He stared calmly back into Akito's glare, not looking troubled in the slightest. Maybe Tohru had already gotten out. "I gave it some more thought and decided that since the day isn't over I'm going to go back in there until it is."

Akito laughed harshly. "Your _son_? Well, whatever you consider that _thing_ you _don't_ get to see him. Hatori, escort Kazuma out."

Hatori couldn't really protest so he walked over to Kazuma and put a hand on his arm, but he knew that if Kazuma really wanted to then he could most likely overtake Hatori and Akito, too. He pulled on Kazuma's arm lightly as Akito put her own key in the door and opened it.

It turned out that Tohru didn't get out before Akito got there. She was standing with a transformed Kyo in her arms, both of the looking like deer caught in the headlights of a car, their eyes wide and fearful.

"What this?" Akito was obviously angry, and if she was surprised then she was hiding it well. "_What are you doing here_?" What happened next happened quickly. Almost too quickly to, when thinking back, put everything in the right order.

Akito strode into the room, stepping over Kyo's clothes, and grabbed Tohru's elbow and pulled her toward to door.

"Ah, Kyo-kun!" Tohru said as the force of the pull caused her to drop Kyo. She was trying to pull away, but didn't seem strong enough.

Then it happened. Akito was dragging Tohru back outside and simply slipped. She must have misstepped, but her foot landed right on top of Kyo bracelet, her feet flew out from under her, and she flew forward, letting go of Tohru. Tohru jumped back and then there was a cracking noise. Akito was lying face down on the ground. She hadn't even put put her arms to catch herself.

* * *

Shigure-san

"Sensei! Sensei, please write!" Shigure sighed and looked up at Mitchan, his editor. "You only have ten pages left, please just finish!"

Shigure shrugged and grinned. What could he say? He wasn't in a writing mood... He was in a... Torment-his-editor mood. "How can I write with you hovering around like some vulture?" He asked innocently.

"_Please, please, please_!" Mitchan looked close to tears, a mental breakdown, and threatening to kill herself. All amusing things to watch, but Shigure picked up the pen and rested his elbows on the desk in front of him, giving off the impression that he was thinking. He wasn't though, he already knew how was going to end _Summer Colored Sigh- The Novel. _It would of course be the same way as always, with a steamy love scene.

"Moving! You're moving! Move the pen to the paper!"

"As you wish... Will you get out of my house when I finish?" Shigure laughed as Mitchan made a noise between a yell and sobbing. She had in fact been saying she wanted to leave his house for the past few hours. After that Shigure decided Mitchan deserved at least a little happiness... He wasn't_ heartless_ after all.

_"Hello, Norio." Reina walked into Norio's room, smiling at the irony of this. Her name meant "Pure" and his "A man of principles," each a thing they were not._

_He answered with a hello of his own and smiled seductively as she sat down on the bed next to him-_

"Oh! Oh my God!" Shigure couldn't hold back the yell as a horrible pain ripped through his chest. His hand flew to his chest, it felt like someone was cutting out his heart.

"Sensei, pretending to have a heart attack doesn't work on me anymore just- Sensei?!" Mitchan's voice turned from bored to alarmed as Shigure stood up and then collapsed, unable to stand up with the pain.

"God!" He repeated, not entirely as a swear. His vision went hazy and saw Akito falling, then blood, and could hear Hatori yelling. "Phone!" He choked out, he was suddenly having a hard time talking.

"Sh-should I call 9-1-1?!"

"No! J-just dial this number and... Hand me the phone." This was happening because something awful had happened to Akito, Shigure could tell. With some difficulty he relayed the number to Mitchan and then took the phone from her.

"Hello?" Hatori's voice answered after about four or five rings. He sounded frantic.

"Ha-Hatori," Shigure stammered out, he was having trouble breathing through the pain. Why wasn't Hatori hurting this much? Shouldn't this feeling be happening to all the Zodiac members? "What... happened?"

"Akito fell. She hit her head on the part of the door frame that was sticking up from the floor. I'm taking her to the hospital, but I think... I think she'll be okay."

"She's dying, dammit!" Shigure suddenly knew. He hadn't felt this way when Akito had just gotten hurt or sick, but now... Now he felt like he was dying himself. This wasn't just an injury it was a fatal injury. She couldn't go! Shigure, despite always tormenting and purposely hurting her, he loved Akito. He loved her more than anything. That fact was the _"honest and unshakable truth."_

Hatori said something like he was suddenly feeling hopeful about something or other, but Shigure didn't hear. he had to get to the hospital. Grimacing against the intense pain, he stood up and started hobbling toward the the door, every intent of going to his car in mind.

"Sensei!" He had forgotten all about Mitchan. What must she be thinking now? Shigure rolling around in pain on the floor, for real this time. "Wh-Where are you going?"

"Hospital," he told her, not realizing that she thought he meant he needed to go get treated at the hospital himself.

"I'll drive!" Mitchan offered quickly. He just shrugged and Mitchan took his arm and helped him to her car.

* * *

Isuzu-san

Bliss. Rin was feeling complete happiness, something that she hadn't experienced in a while. But bliss wasn't hard to feel when she had accepted Haru back into her life and she was sitting in his lap, his arms were around her, and their lips were locked... And no one else was home. Perfect.

Rin pulled away from him slightly and mumbled, "Haru, Shishan could be home any minute."

Haru turned his eyes up to meet hers and whispered back, "But he's not yet."

True, true. Rin leaned back in toward him and their lips met again... But then she did something completely uncharacteristic, she giggled. Right in the middle of their kiss, too.

This time it was Haru who pulled away. "What's so funny?" But he was smiling too.

She laughed again and then hopped off of his lap. She suddenly felt... Happier. It wasn't the same peaceful happiness she was just experienced... This was more ecstatic. Something good was happening, but she couldn't tell what. "Do you feel that, too?"

Haru stood, stretched, and nodded. "I'm really happy about... Something." This was so strange. Rin laughing and Haru smiling...

"Maybe Akito is dying," Rin joked, half hoping it was true. They both hated, well hated as much as they could, Akito.

Haru chuckled and wrapped his arms around Rin again. Rin smiled and leaned her head against his chest, humming softly. "Let's go for a walk," she suggested, suddenly realizing she had a lot of extra energy.

Haru agreed and they put their coats on and went outside, still smiling.

But after walking down the street for a few minutes, the happiness disappeared, leaving a gaping, empty hole.

"Don't go..." Rin dropped to her knees on the hard pavement and put her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably and unwillingly. She could tell exactly what ha happened, and thought she should be happier, but, try as she might, all she could do was cry...

* * *

Shigure-san

He was at the hospital and the pain in Shigure's chest had ony gotten worse, but he had convince Mitchan to just drop him off there. But on another bad note, a young female doctor was trying to help him. Under normal circumstances that wouldn't have been a problem, but this woman was trying to convince him to get the apparent pain he was in tested. "I'm not here to help myself," Shigure told her, grimacing at every word. "I'm just here to see someone."

He blocked out everything she said after that, she must have been new the way she was too afraid to actually stop him from getting to where he was going, and followed the tug he was feeling toward Akito. He could just tell where she was.

Finally Shigure stopped in front of a door labeled _213._ Just as he put his hand on the doorknob, all of the pain disappeared, leaving something worse in its wake. Nothing.

No pain, no feeling at all, just... Emptiness.

Then he was abruptly crying, although he wasn't one to cry. Even when he was alone. But this was a special case, Shigure hasn't just lost his God, he had lost someone he really loved.

He was too late, Akito was gone.

* * *

Fine, the end was a little sucky, but, eh, I think I did okay. The next chapter is going to be the last- Or is it? x.x 


	11. Chapter 11

-sigh- Here is the last chapter of Flood of Memories... Wait, don't cry!... Oh. You weren't crying? Well, -cough- just read.

Same deal with the line breaks as the last chapter

Ayame-san

Ayame Sohma was troubled, something that he usually wasn't. He was troubled about something other than the fact that he and the rest of the Zodiac couldn't stop crying, and something other than that they had just gotten back from Akito's funeral.

The funeral was a small, family affair that happened at the private Sohma graveyard right on the Sohma estate. It took place two days after Akito actually died and was short, solemn, and silent, the only noise was the sound of crying. The day was cold, but not as cold as it had been lately- It seemed like the weather was celebrating almost.

But what was really bothering Ayame was, "Why didn't I feel anything?" He looked up from his cup of tea and across the table at Hatori. The two were sitting in the kitchen and neither of them had said anything until now. As Ayame continued to speak he counted off on his fingers, "Rin and Haru were happy, Gure was sad, you were hopeful, Yuki felt safe, Kyo felt free, Kisa bold, Hiro felt brave, Ritsu felt worth something, Kureno of course didn't feel anything since his curse was broken, but I was just going about my business normally until Akito actually... Died. I think it was the same for Momiji and Kagura, too." It had been awkward when Ayame realized Akito was dead. He had been fitting a man for a wedding dress and then he had suddenly burst into tears, but it had all smoothed over after Mine offered to finish the dress while Ayame calmed down.

"Maybe..." Ayame didn't think that Hatori had been listening the way he had been staring off into space and frowning, "you and Momiji were never affect by Akito directly. She's said mean things to you and all of that, but while Yuki was tortured when he was little, and Kyo, obviously has been imprisoned, but you three hadn't been affected by Akito directly." Hatori sighed. "That's a theory anyway.

A theory was all they had. It sounded plausible to Ayame anyway. He sighed, too, and let thoughts overtake him.

"It looks like spring is coming," Hatori muttered softly. Ayame followed his gaze and saw he was looking out a window at a tree still partially covered in snow.

"Why?" Ayame asked. It still looked pretty wintry to him.

"The tree is blossoming." It was indeed. When Ayame looked closer, he could see buds forming on the branches.

Spring was a good thing to look forward to.

* * *

Shigure-san

Shigure sat in the living room of the Main House, alone and silent. He was totally unaware of everyone around him, he was just trying to ward off the guilt and depression he could feel approaching. He should have said something at the burial. No one said a word, not even him. He should have admitted that he loved her, everyone found out that Akito was a woman, but he should have said something in her defense! He could see everyone just quietly despising her, it was possible now that she was gone.

Damn. This wasn't doing anything, sitting and wallowing in misery like this. Shigure got up off of the floor and started walking toward the door. There had to be something he could do that would take his mind off of the impending pain, thinking about it would just make it come faster, but woudn't take too much effort.

"Aw, is the poor puppy dog sad?" A sweet, mock pitying voice and a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Maybe not some_thing_, but some_one_.

Shigure turned to face the woman behind him, Ren Sohma, Akito's mother. And at that moment, Shigure hated her, because she hadn't even shed a single tear at the loss of her daughter, she didn't even show any signs of sadness- If anything, she looked amused.

But she was there, probably thinking it would be easy to take advantage of him... Well, Ren would be right. Even if he did hate her, she was ready and willing, and so was he.

"Maybe I can help cheer you up," Ren continued in a soft purr. He let her guide him back through the living room, through a hallway, and into her room.

* * *

Kyo-kun

Kyo sat on the back porch of Shishou's house, scowling out into the backyard. He was free, he should have been happier, but he was angry. Pissed might have been a better word.

He wasn't even allowed at the damn funeral! Akito hadn't left a will, but he (well, she, as it was made known after Akito was pronounced officially dead) had left a note that said the cat wasn't allowed at his... Her funeral. She must have thought Kyo would be imprisoned and unable to leave, but as soon as Akito died, Kyo could leave, but since she had actually wrote down that he wasn't supposed to go, he didn't.

"Kyo-kun?" Kyo jerked his head around quickly and saw a certain brown haired girl standing behind him. Tohru sat down next to him and sat next to him silently for a moment.

"Why aren't you at the funeral?" Tohru wouldn't be there to mourn the loss of Akito, of course, but maybe to comfort everyone there.

Tohru handed Kyo a piece of paper he hadn't even noticed her holding. It was the same paper that Akito had written that Hatori showed Kyo the day before the funeral. It said:

_Hatori,_

_This is my last law. I'm obviously dead if you're reading it. I don't care what happens to my things, but at my funeral I don't want the cat to be there, or that Honda bitch._

_Akito_

Kyo frowned when he read "that Honda bitch," but just crumpled up the letter and threw it aside. It seemed that Akito still had some control over them after she was dead.

"Kyo-kun, when are you coming home?" Tohru had moved back into Shigure's house, she had thought of something to tell her friends, but Kyo wasn't sure what, and Kyo had been staying at Shishou's since he was informally freed. He didn't think he could go back to Shigure's so suddenly when he had been isolated from everyone there for so long.

"I'm not sure what's home now." What was the point of lying?

They sat in awkward silence for a few more minutes, both with things they wanted to say, but couldn't- The Gap was looming hugely between them.

Even if spring seemed to be on it's way, another cold front was coming before the snow could melt completely.

A new God was on his way.

* * *

Wait! Buckle your sealtbelts ladies and gentlemen, the ride isn't over yet! 

Okay, that was lame, but there is a sequel coming soon! I think it will be called _Cold Front_. Be on the lookout :-) I'll probably post a little thing on here when it's out! Ta-ta for now!


	12. Sequel!

Alright, the prolouge of Cold Front is now posted, I just thought that I would let everyone know!


End file.
